Brean Down rock pipits

A bit of a road trip today, without much in the way of pictures to show for it. I started off early for  NT area in Somerset called Brean Downs. It lies between  Weston Super Mare and Burnham ion Sea and is a peninsular jutting out beyond a large array of holiday parks which have been built adjacent to the beach. The area I was interested in was some rocks which lie at the northern end of the beach just below a National trust car park. I had read that as well as rock pipits there is an occasional black redstart wintering here and it was these I hoped to find.  The tide  had been high and was now on its way out, leaving a vast expanse of wet sand. After driving through a rainstorm on the way, the sun was now out and it was turning into a very pleasant morning. The beach was empty apart from the odd dog walker though I knew it would soon become busier. Making my way down to the sand, I proceeded to walk along towards the rocks,  looking out for any signs of bird life. It wasn't long before saw and heard some little brown birds - rock pipits - flitting about the rocks ahead of me. As I approached they flew up into the ledges of the sheer rock face above me, and continued their search for food among the crevices. Further along, I found a couple of rock pipits on the  rocks on the beach so watched these for a while. I continued along the wet pebbles below the rocks but didn't go too far as I was conscious of the dangers of slipping on wet seaweed. Up above, I suddenly realised there was a whitish shape on one of the grassy ledges. It put its head up and I realised it was a goat!  There were about four altogether including one male with some good horns. Sadly I didn't find a black redstart but it was  a nice peaceful hour on the beach. As I returned to the car, I found the car park was now considerably busier than when I had arrived, and I decided to leave. I looked towards the peninsular but decided that the steepness of the path and steps would be better left for another day! 

Getting back in the car I set my SatNav to  a RSPB reserve called Greylakes. It is a small reserve with a short reedbed walk and a couple of hides, fairly close to each other which look over a wetland area. Here were good numbers of ducks, including wigeon and teal, and I also noted a couple of great white egret in the distance. A smaller white  bird gave the appearance of a little egret, but I overheard the people next to me saying it was a cattle egret. Not being able to identify it myself, it hasn't made my year list yet.

The rspb carpark and hides were busy and it was hard to find a suitable viewing position amongst the telescopes.  The main reason for this was the presence of a Baikal teal, an attractive species of duck which has been at this site since before Christmas. On asking, I was told that it was partly hidden behind some other teal, only visible through a 'scope!  However, a kind gentleman did offer to let me look through his scope, which was focussed on the duck. All I could see was its head markings as it was asleep. It was obviously not going to  be very obliging like on some previous days. As I scanned the view through my binoculars I suddenly noticed a type of bird of prey flying low  over the fields in the distance.  I watched it for a while,  and then someone mentioned they could see a 'ringtail' ( female hen harrier). I soon realised that was the bird I had been watching though I wasn't in a position to take a photo and it was soon gone. 

There wasn't much  else to see so I decided to head off. As it was still only lunch time, I realised I  would have time to head straight up the M5 to Slimbridge which I did. To cut a long story short, I didn't see the spoonbill, water rail or whooper swan  but I did tick off the black tailed godwits which had been missing from my last visit. 

Four more year ticks and a pleasant  day out in the winter sunshine. 

FIRST BUTTERFLY OF THE YEAR

 An unusually mild and sunny day brought out the first butterflies of the year. In my garden I spotted three male brimstones flying along the ivy hedge, and around the garden. One even settled on an ivy leaf for about 15 minutes.

TURNSTONES AT OARE MARSHES

 

It was a pleasant sunny day for my visit to Oare Marshes on the north coast of Kent. The reserve lies on the edge of the Swale estuary and is owned by the Kent Ornithological Trust and is a nice sized reserve for a morning's walk. There are a three hides, and  as usual, I hoped to be able to use the opportunity to add a few more species to my year list. 

Driving up the access road, I soon realised that the main lake, where there are usually plenty of  birds to be seen especially at high tide, had been taken over by a work party, obviously preparing the site for the nesting season. About a dozen people, armed with noisy strimmers and such like,  were spread across the area, and were obviously burning the waste in two bonfires! No wonder the area was almost bereft of birds!!

However, there still seemed quite a few 'birders' about, and I  found a  space  to park on the edge of the road between two cars. I walked up to the seawall and climbed the steps to see over to the estuary. The tide was coming in and it would only be about an hour until the mud was covered in sea water. A few curlew and oyster catchers were feeding on the mud and further along, I could make out a group of smaller birds on some seaweed covered rocks.  Walking towards them I could see a group of about 14 turnstones, busily poking amongst the seaweed looking for food. They were well disguised, their bright orange legs making a splash of contrast amongst the rocks.

I  watched them for a while, as the tide came nearer, a group of avocets flew in  , before taking off again shortly after. I walked on a bit but the sea was already covering much of the mud, and the path along the seawall was muddy too. I decided against  following it as it just led round to the area being worked on. 

Re-tracing my steps, I noticed the flock of turnstones had been pushed  closer up onto the rocks below the seawall, remaining active as they jumped from rock to rock. I left them to it, and continued  walking beyond the slipway, following the  path up the estuary. There were a few tufted ducks and    greylag geese   and a little egret, but I saw nothing else of note  in this area. 

Meanwhile the  turnstones had relocated to the end of the slipway and as I walked back toward them, they took off and landed on some rocks just below were I was standing, allowing me some close views. Finally they flew back  to an old boat moored in the river, as if they meant to wait there until the tide receded. 

Having done justice to the turnstones, I walked back down the road to view the lake which was now quiet again. A couple of mute swans were preening, and on an island I  spotted a spoonbill. Apart from a few gulls in the distance, they appeared to be the only birds there. though doubtless many more would return to roost in the evening. 

tide edging closer

well disguised- how many can you spot?

DARTFORD WARBLER AT GREENHAM

With gorse bushes now starting to flower and a sunny afternoon, I decided at the last minute to make a trip over to Greenham Common. My target bird was the dartford warbler, a resident species there, although not easy to spot. On previous visits I've managed to spot the odd one or two, but never managed any decent photos. 

Dartford warblers are secretive birds but in spring they may be seen at the tops of gorse bushes. I knew from past visits some likely places where I might find one, so headed for the main disused runway and started to walk westwards listening out for any bird song  as I went. It was pretty quiet, not even a stonechat which can often give a clue to the dartford warbler's presence. 

I spotted a lady with a camera standing amongst an area of gorse so approached her to ask if she'd managed to find any birds. She told me she'd just seen a couple of dartford warblers fly down in to the gorse, but they had not reappeared. We waited and listened but they seemed to have disappeared so the lady went on her way. I decided to hang around, and walked twenty or so metres further along the path. Then I heard something and looking up  and could see a small bird silhouetted against the sky at the top of a small bare tree. I thought it must be a dunnock or robin, but through binoculars I could see the pink and grey colouring which told me that it was, in fact, a dartford warbler. I wasn't particularly close but it soon flew down into the gorse nearby. I decided to wait. 

Sure enough I heard its song again  and before long the dartford warbler flew out and perched firstly in a tree then into a gorse bush where it could be seen clearly. I quickly grabbed my camera and managed a few photos before once again, the bird disappeared. This time it stayed in the undergrowth although I did spot it flit about between bushes from time to time. 

I could have waited but with time passing, I decided to return home, satisfied with one more species for the year and a few fairly respectable images on my camera.